News and Updates

Following the Bandung Workshop, held at the Bandung Institute of Technology, in August -September 2015, the participants and leaders of the Ambitious Alignments research project will re-convene for the final time in Singapore, at the National Gallery Singapore, host of the five-day event. This upcoming workshop will give all Ambitious Alignments participants the opportunity to lead discussions and consider new directions of research in Southeast Asian art. The program also includes meetings with the curatorial teams of National Gallery Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilisations Museum. The participants can look forward to conversations with the curators about the collecting, exhibiting and curating of Southeast Asian Art.

On 22 and 23 January, National Gallery Singapore will host a two-day public symposium where the participants will share their exciting research projects publicly for the very first time. For an early preview of the program, click on the Show Program button below. The program can also be downloaded here.

Panel 4 – Problematizing Identities: Nations in Transition and the Political in Art and ArchitectureModerator: Prof Stephen Whiteman, University of SydneySimon SoonPlace of Learning: Landscape and Cultural Topographies of Nanyang University and the Chinese University of Hong KongChomchon FusinpaiboonModern Thai in Transition: Prince Vodhyakara Varavarn and Architecture in Thailand during the 1950s and 1960sNathalie JohnstonImage as Nation: Seeking Identities of a Post-Colonial Burma

Response to the Ambitious Alignments conference papersProf Ashley Thompson, SOAS, University of London

1500-1530

Thoughts on the Ambitious Alignments Workshops and ConferenceProf Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney

1530-1600

Afternoon Tea & Refreshments @ Auditorium foyer (open to the public)

1600-1640

Writing New Histories of Art in Southeast Asia: Some ThoughtsProf T.K. Sabapathy, National University of Singapore

1640-1700

Closing AddressProf. Mark Ledbury, University of Sydney

1800-2000

Closing Dinner hosted by the Gallery

*Note: Please ensure to check back here regularly for updates. This program is subject to change.

Bandung Workshop (30 August – 5 September 2015)10 October 2015

Participants and leaders re-convened in Indonesia for a two-day cultural visit to Yogyakarta and a five-day research workshop at the Institute of Technology, Bandung. Throughout the workshop, the scholars shared their research findings on a range of topics to attending leaders and guests, and debated key issues related to art historical methodologies, approaches and frameworks in small-group discussions. Regional leaders, Professor T.K. Sabapathy from National University of Singapore and Professor Patrick Flores from University of the Philippines, conducted seminars on the writing of Southeast Asian art histories, and discourses of the Contemporary in Southeast Asia, respectively. Participants also attended a public event, Connecting Southeast Asian Art Histories, with talks and round-table discussions given by invited guests and regional leaders on a range of pertinent issues centring the writing, curating and historicizing of Southeast Asian art.

Throughout the five-day workshop, the scholars were given opportunities to visit museums and art spaces significant to Bandung’s cultural scene. Professor Adrian Vickers led everyone on a specialist tour to the Asia African Conference museum, extending discussions on regional politics that germinated during the workshop discussions. The participants were also given a glimpse of the local contemporary art developments when they were warmly hosted and shown an exhibition preview by Bandung’s eminent artist, Sunaryo Soetono, at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space.

This second phase of Ambitious Alignments earmarked the beginning of an exciting colleagueship of future young scholars committed to developing new directions in Southeast Asian Art History. There is little doubt that key milestones in research development were met during this workshop in which deep engagements with the participants’ various research projects were achieved. We look forward to their final presentations in the upcoming Singapore Workshop and Public Symposium, 18 – 24 Jan 2016.

Program for Ambitious Alignments Bandung Workshop 201520 August 2015

The Ambitious Alignments Bandung Workshop will take place on 31 August 2015 at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Galeri Soemardja. Click on Show Program for an early preview. The program can also be downloaded here.

N.B. The schedules as listed are subject to changes.

31 Aug – 5 Sept 2015: Bandung Workshop

Date

Time

Itinerary

31/8 (Mon)Galeri Soemardja ITB

0900-0930

Participants and Leaders arrive

0930-1000

Opening address and Introduction

1000-1100

Participants’ Presentations

Aminudin Tua Hamonangan SiregarClaire Holt and Historiography of Indonesian Modern Art: A Historiographical Research on Claire Holt’s Thoughts, Archives and Documents

Eileen RamirezTriangulated Subjectivities: Counting on the Unreliable to Write Affect into Histories of the Site Specific

Nathalie JohnstonImage as Nation: Seeking Identities of a Post-Colonial Burma

1100-1230

Morning Tea / Prayer Break

1230-1330

Lunch / Prayer Break

1330-1430

Participant’s Presentation Workshop: Small group discussion*

1430-1500

Closing remarks, evaluation and discussion: Preparation for Final Presentation

1500

Exhibition Preview led by Mr SunaryoAfternoon Tea

1630

Depart for Lawang Wangi Creative Space by bus

1700

Visit Lawang Wangi Creative SpaceOptional walking tour to Art Hotels

1800-2000

Closing dinner at Lawang Wangi Creative Space Restaurant

*Note: Please ensure to check back here regularly for updates. This program is subject to change.

Sydney Convening Meeting03 March 2015

The Sydney Convening Meeting, which kicked off on 3 February 2015, at the University of Sydney, Camperdown, came to a successful close on 5 February 2015. Over three days, the scholars attended lectures by field experts, a reading seminar led by the Sydney leaders, and visited museums and special collections. Not only were the participants given opportunities to share their original research ideas with fellow participants, they also received invaluable feedback from attending field specialists and leaders. Some highlights included the tour given by Dr Stan Florek and Dr Siobhan Campbell on Anthony Forge’s Kamasan Collection at the Australian Museum (read blog entry), and the conversation session with Dr Michael Brand, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. There is little doubt that the many stimulating conversations over coffee and food across the three days have given the participants plenty to think and talk about. It is precisely this type of congenial and convival environment that we hope would encourage colleagueship among the participants, drawn together by their deep interest in Southeast Asian art and history. We look forward to more intense discussions in the upcoming Bandung Workshop, 30 Aug-5 Sep 2015.

Program for Sydney Convening Meeting20 January 2015

The Sydney Convening Meeting will kick off on 3 February 2015 at the University of Sydney. We welcome our international candidates and leaders, many of whom will be flying long distances to attend this three-day meeting.

Click on Show Program for an early preview of the many interesting talks and events lined up. The program can also be downloaded here.

*Note: Please ensure to check back here regularly for updates. This program is subject to change.

Our web application is now ready!18 January 2015

On 18 January 2015, the Ambitious Alignments Web Application went live. With this private communication tool now in place, candidates and leaders can share innovative ideas and resources with one another. We believe that a platform such as this can serve to not only cultivate a collegial network but to also create important opportunities for collaboration in the future. Candidates are encouraged to participate actively in the discussion forums, and we look forward to plenty of interesting and stimulating discussion in the months to come!

Our First Meeting in Sydney1 December 2014

Plans are now underway for the inaugural convening meeting held at the University of Sydney in February 2015. The leaders and participants will gather for the first time to meet each other, discuss their plans and research aims, and share ideas and methodologies. To read more about the Participants’ exciting research topics, click here.

Hosted by the Power Institute at the University of Sydney, this initial meeting will be held over three days. The group will work together to lay out their plans and expectations but also reflect on the problems and possibilities of the current state of Southeast Asian art history. The meeting initiates a project that will see the cohort re-convene first in in Bandung and then Singapore, to bring their research findings and working theses to intensive workshops with field experts. This website will be regularly updated with news and outcomes of all our meetings as well as audio and video segments curated by our participants and leaders.

The Power Institute2 December 2014

The Power Institute is a research institute and public engagement space in visual art, which supports scholarship in the Department of Art History & Film Studies and throughout Australia, as well as the development of the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library, Visual Resources Library, Power Publications and a lively speaker program. A member of RIHA, the umbrella body for Research Institutes worldwide the Power is actively in partnership with institutions across the globe. We are delighted to be part of the transformational initiative of the Getty Foundation, “Connecting Art Histories”, which chimes so precisely with our own global and networked vision of twenty-first century scholarship in the visual arts. We’re very much looking forward to hosting such a brilliant and energetic group of early career scholars and to helping to nurture a vital series of personal and institutional connections.